With the rise of autonomous transportation technology in the U.S., what implementable strategies can help a dense urban landscape like New York City prepare efficiently for a driverless future? Design teams from around the world proposed their ideas in the Driverless Future Challenge, organized by Blank Space (the creators of the Fairy Tales Architecture Competition) and the City of New York.

Participants from over 25 countries sent proposals that ranged from driverless food cards to using NYC's 311 system as a driverless dispatching center. Now, the jury has selected the four finalist teams.

Find each proposal below — plus project videos!

“Public Square” by FXFOWLE Architects with Sam Schwartz Engineering

Project summary: “Public Square provides New York City an adaptable, responsive, and environmentally friendly way to rethink its streets and reclaim space for pedestrians. Public Square is a plug-and-play system of interlocking unitized squares, roughly 8’x8’ in size, with built-in infrastructure, and a wide variety of surface module programs, including seating, retail stands, play equipment, and eco-friendly green space. The transition to driverless vehicles will require incremental change, and Public Square allows the public realm to be responsive to changes in how we drive, however fast or slow those changes happen. Public Square can be configured to meet the needs of a particular neighborhood today, and reconfigured as technology advances.”

“QueueY” by Daniel Hui, Danil Nagy & Spencer Wright

Project summary: “QueueY is a system for managing high-volume AV pickup & dropoff locations. It consists of curbside hardware and a multi-sided platform for managing last-mile transit. Without infrastructural coordination, the introduction of Automated Vehicles will create congestion with regards to pick up and drop off locations. QueueY establishes a coordinated zone around transit hubs, and converts curbside parking space to a dedicated loading and unloading area. As AVs approach the terminal, they’re directed to the next available station and allowed to park, and charge if necessary. The added technology within each hub further improves the commuter experience., including a weatherproof space to wait for rides, improved signage and communication between riders and their car, and ride accessibility for commuters without access to the internet on their own device.”

“sAVe” by IBI Group

Project summary: “sAVe is a Service platform that offers multi-modal ridesharing services that will include automated vehicles as they become available. sAVe provides trip service in underserved neighborhoods and connects those residents to public transit hubs that they cannot otherwise access conveniently. In order to meet the needs of all users, sAVe rides can be found and booked via smartphone app, community kiosk, or by speaking with a customer service representative. The service offers the benefits of leveraging existing public infrastructure without increasing the number of private vehicles in already-congested areas, providing a social opportunity with associated rewards incentives to residents who choose to affordably ride-share with other community members, and gradually introducing AVs to new populations who may not otherwise get to experience or benefit from this technology.”

“Urban Oasis” by Lily Shi, Yodai Yasunaga & Jiaming Zhang

Project summary: “Urban Oasis is an innovative take on autonomous vehicle technology to tackle the issue of food deserts in NYC. Current solutions, such as Green Carts, are bringing fresh produce to these neighborhoods but are not perfectly mobile or reliable. Urban Oasis aims to reinvent the system by creating a new grocery shopping experience that brings goods and services directly to consumers. It specifically takes advantage of the autonomous car technology to create a system that is trackable, mobile, and adaptable in order to increase reliability, reach under served neighborhoods, apply to other needs and scales.”

In the coming weeks, the finalists will work at New Lab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to start turning their proposals into reality. They will then publicly present their projects to NYC Commissioners at the “Pitch The City” event, during the monthly NY Tech Meetup on July 11 at NYU's Skirball Center. The winning team will be selected live at the event.

Check out the proposal videos below.